Letters to the Editor
sunspot
Published Letters: 355 Editor's Choice: 43
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The Buck Stops . . . Where?
[Read the article: Obama's plan to change the economy]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The president doesn't lead the economy. They are not running that show. S/He shouldn't get the credit or blame for everything.
That's a strawman argument. Nowhere did I claim that the Administration runs the economy. But the Clinton Administration is very much responsible for its actions, for those items it failed to act on while in a position of leadership, and for the consequences of those actions or inaction.
If as the shift manager at your local retailer you allow - thru your actions or your inaction - a bunch of crooks to come in and steal multiple items of value, leading to massive losses at your store, you most certainly deserve the blame for the eventual losses. Godlike powers are not required to prevent thieves from making off with half the store, as anyone who's worked retail will tell you. Preventing that is more than within a competent manager's powers.
And so it goes on the national stage. It has diddly to do with being a "command" economy. I've already outlined in some detail steps the Clinton Administration could have taken but did not to help avoid the situation we find ourselves in today. To reiterate - in excruciating detail - once again, here are a few of the actions they could have taken but chose not to which would have helped to mitigate or actually avoid the mess we're in now:
1) They could have abandoned the strong dollar policy, retaliated against foreign attempts to manipulate the value of the dollar and allowed the dollar to fall to its natural value in the marketplace. This would have greatly assisted the American export market, and made imports more expensive, preserving high-paying American jobs and manufacturing skills and know-how.
2) They could have replaced Greenspan with someone remotely competent.
3) They could have opposed so-called free trade legislation which did not include strong environmental and labor protection clauses. Don't adhere to our high standards? Then you don't get to escape tariffs. This is not rocket science.
4) They could have opposed attempts to destroy the regulatory framework which had ensured almost constant economic growth for decades.
5) They could have fought for tighter lending standards and greater transparency and disclosure in the investment space.
I won't even go into issues like energy policy.
Not only did they not act to prevent many of the excesses which have made this economy sick, they actively supported much of what's hollowed out this nation over the past 15 years. Godlike powers over the economy were not required. They only needed to do their job, exercising the powers available to them. They failed. Only a fool would give them the chance to repeat these mistakes, especially at a time like this.
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Bush's Pursuits
[Read the article: Obama's plan to change the economy]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Bush has persued a weak dollar policy and that hasn't really helped either.
Of course it hasn't helped. Our manufacturing base has been decimated after a 25 year assault from Washington and from poor Wall Street management. You can thank the Clintons for some of both - this was a bipartisan, public / private sector screw-up. We import virtually everything manufactured save some food and export almost nothing in return. A quick trip thru a shopping mall checking the "Made In" tags will demonstrate the truth of that. Or just watch all of the empty container ships floating away from the Port of Los Angeles.
All weakening the dollar does now - in the short term, anyhow - is drive up the cost of imported goods, imported food and imported energy. It's like feeding a hungry man after he's already dead from starvation.
It also doesn't help that China's currency is still largely pegged to the dollar, which means our exports aren't much more competitive there than they were a couple of years ago, and their exports still remain comparatively cheap.
It'll take years now for currency devaluation to bring the situation back into some kind of balance - even longer if our banking system continues its deregulation-fueled implosion and can no longer offer our manufacturing sector the capital it needs to expand and take advantage of our devalued currency.
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Disingenuous Much?
[Read the article: Obama's plan to change the economy]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I'd have a lot more respect for you Uncle Fester if you didn't slice 'n dice other people's posts in order to twist their meaning, and then reply to your own distortion.
For example, in my original post, I said the following:
If you're running the show, you're responsible for whatever happens on your watch. That's what leadership means. The Clinton Administration not only failed to use the tools at their disposal to prevent the mess we've found ourselves in today, they aided and abetted the crooks who caused it.
You decided to slice 'n dice out the second half of that paragraph in order to score some sort of sophomoric debating point, but it's crucial to the meaning of that statement.
If you're going to play stupid debating games like that, there's no point trying to hold an adult conversation with you.
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Internally Consistent
[Read the article: Everything you were afraid to ask about "Battlestar Galactica" ]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I know it's not the same legal system as ours, but come on!
Well, they're down to around 40,000 people now, a good number of them convicts or soldiers. And Baltar's lawyers had a nasty habit of turning up dead. I could see how a straight arrow like Lee Adama would end up on his legal team - it's clear he's been chafing at his military role now since the 1st season. He may be a great pilot, but he's a politician at heart - something like his grandfather.
Given the fleet's power elite consists of something like 40 individuals, it's inevitable you'd get conflicts of interest like this. Hell, the United States has 300 million people and we managed to have our Supreme Court - including justices appointed by Bush I - anointing his son as President.